Thanks to the generosity of fellow inmate Briarpatch I have a rear fender heading my way. Bought an original paint front /5 fender on EBay last night for 50 bucks, so she'll have fenders on her soon.

I went to the EBay "Airhead" parts "Ending soonest" and saw an aftermarket BMW bucket seat & backrest bid @ $.99 with 20 seconds left....like a dumbass I threw a $1.04 bid at it and won, without seeing the ridiculous shipping quote of $50.00.
My thought was to chop the back half of the seat off and make a solo seat out of it. Not sure if that is feasible but we'll see. It has a back rest and pad so that might be worth something to somebody.
I've had a similar ugly period seat in the past and actually it was pretty comfortable....
but nauseating to look at....

I've made the same mistake with Ebay. Chalk it up to a learning experience. I don't think you will have much luck improving the seat with a hack saw. But don't let me discourage you. Since it is ugly already then it's fair game. But yeah I've had ugly parts on my bike and I usually get tired of them. I have a tank with a slow leak where the left knee pad should be. I soldered it once but never relined the tank so it started to leak again. it's a very slow leak and never drips. It just stays wet, and ugly. I finally found a better tank and may have it on today. I think I've had the leaky one for about 5 years.

I've made the same mistake with Ebay. Chalk it up to a learning experience. I don't think you will have much luck improving the seat with a hack saw. But don't let me discourage you. Since it is ugly already then it's fair game. But yeah I've had ugly parts on my bike and I usually get tired of them. I have a tank with a slow leak where the left knee pad should be. I soldered it once but never relined the tank so it started to leak again. it's a very slow leak and never drips. It just stays wet, and ugly. I finally found a better tank and may have it on today. I think I've had the leaky one for about 5 years.

I think every avid old BMW rider has had one of the ugly bucket seats collecting dust in the corner of the garage at one time or another.
I've practically given away a couple myself.
Now I'll be the proud owner of another one.

I'm sharpening my hacksaw as we speak....Maybe I can start a new thread: "How to butcher an ugly seat".

In my limited seat carving experience, I've had pretty good success with an electric carving knife (yes, the kind that some people have in their kitchen) for the bigger cuts and an angle grinder with a flap wheel or the finer shaping operations. Get ready to make a mess. The 8 lb rebond foam is what most pro saddle makers use if they need to add material. It feels a little hard, but it softens up with use. Find the right spray adhesive for the job and you'll be good to go. Usually seat shops get the final shape "close enough" and then wrap the entire thing in a 1/2" sheet of softer foam to take up the small surface imperfections.

In my limited seat carving experience, I've had pretty good success with an electric carving knife (yes, the kind that some people have in their kitchen) for the bigger cuts and an angle grinder with a flap wheel or the finer shaping operations. Get ready to make a mess. The 8 lb rebond foam is what most pro saddle makers use if they need to add material. It feels a little hard, but it softens up with use. Find the right spray adhesive for the job and you'll be good to go. Usually seat shops get the final shape "close enough" and then wrap the entire thing in a 1/2" sheet of softer foam to take up the small surface imperfections.

I think my biggest problem will be figuring out the upholstery at the back end to make it look right.
My upholstery skills are par with my nuclear engineering knowledge.
The seat presently living on the R60 looks "lumpy" so there's something bunched up under the cover. Maybe it has household sponges stuck under it ...or maybe something has taken up residence there?
The previous owner was quite proud of the recently (10 years ago) recovered seat. As he was pointing out the "new" cracked 10 year old Continental tires.

My thought was to chop the back half of the seat off and make a solo seat out of it. Not sure if that is feasible...

Do-able-- I did just that to a Mustang bucket seat last year and it worked well (but the seat was deteriorating from old-age and I ended up getting a Bill Mayer rebuild on it last May). The solo bucket seat was a good test-run. Start that "seat mod" thread and I'll chime in. The tricky part was doing the "patch" across the rear of the solo seat.

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'73 R60/5 ToasterLuddite. Not just a philosophy, a way of life...

Do-able-- I did just that to a Mustang bucket seat last year and it worked well (but the seat was deteriorating from old-age and I ended up getting a Bill Mayer rebuild on it last May). The solo bucket seat was a good test-run. Start that "seat mod" thread and I'll chime in. The tricky part was doing the "patch" across the rear of the solo seat.

Here is the "$1.04" seat.
I've owned a few QSL 1000 mile solo seats and really like them. The QSL seats are always getter harder to find and pretty pricey when you find a complete one with mounting hardware.

This thing appears to be in pretty good shape. The first cut will be the hardest.

Wow, just noticed.....my 2000th. post.....guess I'll have a drink to celebrate.

There are quite a few "fishing finds" that I pass on too.....
Often an owner will think just because the bike has "BMW" on the tank that it is worth a lot.

This old R75/5 was a 1973 LWB with some later model sidecovers. The bike had possibilities but was a lot rougher than it looks in the photo.
Banged up headlight nacelle, leaking pushrod tube seals, erratic idle, bald tires and the $1200.00 price tag deterred me from hauling it home. Might have been worth $1200.00 to someone but not me.

This one was offered up for a $1000.00........ No thanks.

I don't limit my fish'in to Airheads.
Last Fall my "fish'in" pulled in an old Yamaha 250 Enduro. I couldn't pass it up for $500.00. Only had 2000 miles on it and ran great. The bike had spent its' life on a farm and had never been washed in over 20 years but it cleaned up real nice. There was about 2" of solidified cow shit stuck in the undersides of the rear fender.
The original PO had never opened the little side storage area where the tool set lived. The tool set was there and had never been opened. Still had spare fuses wrapped in plastic.
I putted around on it out in the hills for a while and found someone who wanted it more than I did.

I was at a MC gathering last year and this came in off the gravel road. He had found it at an estate sale in CA.
He wouldn't tell me how much he paid for it. The bike needed some minor TLC but looks pretty good to me.

1973 R75/5...gotta dig those "ape hangers"
This bike had been thoroughly jury rigged by a PO. Had a Suzuki Tail light, throttle and odometer grafted into the stock Motometer. The guy had also scratched the
function description of each idiot light into the Motometer face plate....and his hand writing skills were poor.
Also had holes drilling in the frame, pieces welded to the frame here and there for a poorly made trailer hitch.